The Mammoth Book of Monsters

by Stephen Jones (Editor)

Everybody knows the most memorable monsters--vampires, werewolves, zombies, mad scientists' creations--and you will find all of those classic creatures suitably featured in this monsterrific new anthology from multiple award-winning editor Stephen Jones.

But other monstrosities are also ably represented within these pages...

An academic goes in search of a mythological creature in Thomas Ligotti's The Medusa, a stone gargoyle is brought to life in Downmarket by Sydney J. Bounds, and a reclusive islander shares his world with shape-changing selkies in Robert Holdstock's haunting tale The Silvering.

Late-night office workers are menaced by hungry horrors in Ramsey Cambell's claustrophobic Down There, while the monsters of both Brian Lumley's The Thin People and Basil Copper's The Flabby Men share only a semblance of humanity. The King of the Monsters himself turns up in Godzilla's Twelve Step Program by Joe R. Lansdale, R. Chetwynd-Hayes' The Shadmock and Clive Barker's Rawhead Rex are genuinely new monsters, and the last monster-fighter and the last classic monster confront each other in Kim Newman's The Chill Clutch of the Unseen.

If you like monsters, then there are plenty to choose from in this creature-filled collection boasting some of the biggest names in horror, fantasy and science fiction.

Contents:

Introduction: How to Make a Monster by Stephen Jones
Visitation by David J. Schow
Down There by Ramsey Campbell
The Man He Had Been Before by Scott Edelman
Calling All Monsters by Dennis Etchison
The Shadmock by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
The Spider Kiss by Christopher Fowler
Café Endless: Spring Rain by Nancy Holder
The Medusa by Thomas Ligotti
In the Poor Girl Taken by Surprise by Gemma Files
Downmarket by Sydney J. Bounds
Fat Man by Jay Lake
The Thin People by Brian Lumley
The Hill by Tanith Lee
Godzilla's Twelve Step Program by Joe R. Lansdale
.220 Swift by Karl Edward Wagner
Our Lady of the Sauropods by Robert Silverberg
The Flabby Man by Basil Copper
The Silvering by Robert Holdstock
Someone Else's Problem by Michael Marshall Smith
Rawhead Rex by Clive Barker
The Chill Clutch of the Unseen by Kim Newman

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Monsters, Supernatural

498 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 2007

About the author

Stephen Jones is an eighteen-time winner of the British Fantasy Award.

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this MAMMOTH BOOK OF MONSTERS, there's an interesting case to be made for a definition of the specific sub-genre of "the monster story". While the monster story can, and usually is, a subset of horror fiction, it can also be subset of science fiction or fantasy. In any case, the point is the same - the monster itself and its presentation is the main focus of the text. Oh there's still usually a plot, conflict, etc., but an effective creature feature makes it obvious that the nefarious being itself, its description, its actions, its mind (if it has one), its *presence* is really the point of the exercise and everything else takes a back seat. This is usually easy to see in tales of odd and singular creatures like prehistoric survivors, or mythological monsters. One could make a case that many vampire and werewolf stories are automatically "monster stories", but I'd argue that these creatures have become too familiar in the common mind for that cover-all to work in most cases. As usual with me, it comes down not to general content but to authorial choices of focus and emphasis. There might also be a lesser argument for the creature usually having to have a *physical* presence: demons, ghosts and spirits are technically "monsters" (in the ghost's case, if they act with or manifest malevolence) but something about their ephemerality, in general, makes their existence less monstrous unless they take a visible and effectual (if not completely solid) form. But that's a fairly debatable point.

So what you have here is another Stephen Jones edited anthology, but with a much more specific focus than the more catholic BEST NEW HORROR volumes. The point here is monsters, and Jones does a good job ranging far and wide, while avoiding the overly familiar, to reign in a variety of types. And while I rarely like *everything* in an anthology (different strokes and all that), this volume had many more hits than misses (a minor note - the description in the Goodreads entry mentions Harlan Ellison, but he's nowhere to be found here)

The misses? Christopher Fowler's "The Spider Kiss" (in which two Miami cops try to discover the cause of increasingly violent madness occuring in normally sane individuals) just didn't work for me. The story was sound but it felt like the sketch of an idea (if the author's intro didn't spell the main concept out enough, the info dump near the end of the story does the same, fairly artlessly in my opinion). It's not terrible, it just felt like an idea for a longer story or novel jammed into a short tale. "The Silvering", Robert Holdstock's tale of selkies (folkloric were-seals) has a lot going for it: the setting (a barren, windswept island), the characters (a mysterious man and the equally mysterious selkie that shows up in place of a previous one he had loved/enslaved) and some of the description (he's quite good at sketching the icy, grey beach setting and the pain of physical transformations). Unfortunately, the folkloric tone is undermined by the author's insistence on thoroughly delving into the hows and whys of Selkie transformation, turning something magical into something complicated and cumbersome that eventually drains the story of necessary vitality. When I began reading genre fiction with a critical eye, I was delighted to discover how much I liked Tanith Lee's dark fantasy work, considering how she usually writes in genres that don't hold much interest for me. So it's a shame that I have to say that I found her longish piece here, "The Hill", rather tedious. It has an intriguing set up (in Edwardian times, a female librarian is hired by an absent zoologist to get his personal library, located on his rural estate, into order. The house proves to have a menagerie of exotic animals in the garden, superstitious servants and a collection of tribal African fetish dolls. Then someone digs up the local graveyard and removes the bodies...) but the period voice, while generally effective, felt clumsy at times and, even worse, the story revolves around a rather unlikely "rational" explanation for the eventual monsters. That resolution, thematic though it may be, was unsatisying and not something I wanted. So...eh.

Scott Edelman can't help that I read his quasi-zombpocalypse tale, "The Man He Had Been Before" (they act like zombies but are inert during the daytime like vampires - so it's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD meets I AM LEGEND, really), after a flood of similar stories in the marketplace. So I'll just focus on what I liked about it - the specific character dynamic of family surviving day to day and how that's complicated by the fact that, pre-apocalypse, the father was an abusive, angry jerk. In "Downmarket" by Sydney J. Bounds, a gargoyle thing preys on a young man chained to a railing overnight in a open-air market. It's fairly straightforward story, without much thought in its head other than delivering the monster goods, but still a brisk, enjoyable read. An overworked businessman takes the early train home for the weekend, only to find it sparsely populated by commuters and, unaccountably, odd little monkey-like creatures in the unbalanced "Someone Else's Problem" by Michael Marshall Smith. Of course explanations aren't always needed in a scary story (in fact, sometimes they ruin it, see "The Silvering" above) but the lack of any resolution in ths piece, even if that was the point, came across as lazy, especially considering how well executed the general weird scenario is. There's ambiguous and then there's "here's a cool idea but, sorry, I got nothing for the resolution". A bit disappointing. Basil Copper (another author whose short fiction I'd like to read more of) is represented her with the long tale "The Flabby Men". I'm a bit on the fence about this one. The setting (a debilitated, poisonous, sterile future) is effectively sketched - you really do feel immersed in this gloomy, wound-down world of toxic corrosion. Copper's style is a bit like J.G. Ballard, dry and descriptive, featuring intellectual, hermetic characters whose minds and emotions seem abstracted (or maybe that's the setting again). The story itself, though, is a bit long-winded in telling what is essentially a 1950s B-monster movie plot as scientists and villagers are menaced by gelid, fungoid things from the sea caves. Fine for what it is, but I doubt I could see much of a reason to re-read it.

Which is a good time to engage the first example of the book's ranks of solid stories - "The Medusa" by Thomas Ligotti. As I've said, I keep extensive notes on what I've read so as not to waste my time rereading stories I wasn't too fond of. On the other hand, I entertain the possibility of rereading stories by authors I respect and think highly of, even if I didn't like the particular story. And Ligotti fits that defintion to a "t". I made the mistake of reading The Nightmare Factory from cover to cover (and enjoyed it immensely) without realizing how intensive Ligotti's style is (he's much like Robert Aickman in that regard). As such, I've always felt it likely that a number of Ligotti's stories were disliked by me at the time simply due to my exhaustion at engaging his particular prose style (and also by my lack of understanding of his approach to the horror story and bleakly absurd worldview, which takes some getting used to). This is all in service of saying I reread "The Medusa" and enjoyed it much more this time. It's probably the most challenging, abstract story in this book (the titular "monster" barely appears - but if it did the reader would have turned to stone, right?), and yet the cumulative effect of Ligotti's choked, airless prose is suffocating and profound, evoking a sterile fatalism and all-impinging gloom (the story *feels* gloomy from the start, but it's quite a few pages in before the weather is described as such). There's a heavyness to the prose as well, perhaps bordering on being a bit stiff at times, but it's an interesting experiment of a horror story where the main concept or creature the narrator quests after appears only as a gap or lack in the text, and petrification follows the realization that we're attracted to the thing we fear the most. Well done (but maybe not to everyone's tastes).

David J. Schow starts the book off with "Vistation", in which a former occult debunker turned occult detective falls into the ultimate metaphysical trap. It's a good choice for an opener, supplying a supernatural/physics explanation for its myriad hauntings. "Cafe Endless: Spring Rain" is an example of that much abused and bloated sub-subgenre, the "erotic vampire story" - not something I have much time for. But, surprisingly, this delicate tale of a Japanese man enslaved to a Kabuki-styled vampire is beautiful, erotic, poetic and horrifying in equal measure. Not usually my cup of tea, but Nancy Holder steeps a heady brew! The famed Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan, is represented here with a classic vampire tale, "The Horror From The Mound". It's a rough and gritty tale of the old Southwest, Conquistador-era evils and Indian mound builders - only the ending is a bit underwhelming. In "Fat Man" by Jay Lake, a pair of hunters finally bag Bigfoot and store him in a meat locker at the local greasy spoon, only for things to get much worse from there. The story is, perhaps, a bit too long for its too-busy/eventually very traditional ending, but the modern rural characters and setting are believably sketched. The monsters of "The Thin People" are suitably bizarre and yet they live amongst us in urban areas, hiding in plain sight. Brian Lumley's crisp writing and creepy atmospherics make this a memorable little gem. The most famous Kaiju (or "Japanese Giant Monster") gets a humorous updating in "Godzilla's Twelve Step Program" by Joe R. Lansdale. I'm not a big fan of horror-comedy but this is amiable, funny and surprisingly poignant when Godzilla finally falls off the "city smashing" wagon (plus, "oh, those Tivoli nights!", Reptilicus gets a mention!). Speaking of giant monsters, dinosaurs are cloned and placed aboard an orbiting jungle satellite habitat in "Our Lady of the Sauropods" by Robert Silverberg. However, when a scientist crash lands in the habitat and has to survive for a month, she finds out that there was more to dinosaurs than fossils could ever reveal.

There are quite a few excellent stories here, which really help round out the anthology. Dennis Etchison has a bit of a rep for impenetrability and his story, "Calling All Monsters", may seem exactly that to the casual reader. But I really liked this stream-of-consciousness channeling of old horror films (FRANKENSTEIN, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS and THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE - yes, MST3K fans, the movie that gave you "Jan in the pan"!) rattling through the mind of a man undergoing a horrific experience, especially at the point when these memories become almost hysterical evocations of power. Lit-Horror at its finest.

A story that impresses me everytime I re-read it, Karl Edward Wagner's ".220 Swift" is the crowning jewel of his attempts in the 1970s to revitalize the pulp horror model. The story starts as a rural, folklore-based horror yarn in the vein of Manly Wade Wellman and ends up as a dark fantasy, "weird hero" origin story. The North Carolina setting, myths of an underground pygmy race, albino main character and claustrophobic exploration of lost mines: all merge powerfully together in a long, strong story.

I previously pegged R. Chetwynd-Hayes as something like a British Robert Bloch - both tend towards a lighter, humorous tone in most of their horror tales. It's not a style I particularly like very much, but Chetwynd-Hayes really showed me something with his story here, "The Shadmock". First of all, I expected I'd know the story itself from the adapation in the Chetwynd-Hayes anthology film THE MONSTER CLUB. First surprise - this story has some of the film segment's details (particularly a fanciful geneaology of monster crossbreedings) but the plot is significantly different in this long tale. Secondly, while there is humor here (usually in acerbic character dialogue and droll descriptions) the overall effect actually amplifies the ghoulish horror. The scenario is like something from a gothic horror comic book - an arrogant, nouveau rich putz and his trophy girlfriend arrive at his newly purchased country-seat mansion (his family toiled as groundskeepers there in his youth), only to discover the original servant staff still alive and installed, because they are inhuman creatures. This story really impressed me - yes, it's cartoonish while also, somehow, maintaining a strong aura of grotesque threat.

Speaking of grotesque threats, Clive Barker's tale of a resurrected pagan forest-god/monster rampaging through a rural English village, "Rawhead Rex", is another great choice for the compilation. What makes the story work (besides Barker's impressively lucid and sometimes luminous writing that sketches both effective characters and nightmare scenes) is the character of Rawhead himself. Not *just* a ravening, baby-eating monster, Rawhead (once colorfully described in a review as "a 9 foot tall rampaging penis with teeth") has a mind; his disorientation with modern times, and his arrogant desire to constantly test himself against technological threats (in service of defeating humanity and regaining his empire), make the story just crack along. A great read, they really should consider re-making the failed movie.

"Down There", an early Ramsey Campbell piece about two workers staying late in an office building that houses nasty, doughy horrors in the basement, is also great - it's more event-filled than his current storytelling, and features a well-done "fleeing horror into prosaic safety" ending. Gemma Files' "In The Poor Girl Taken By Suprise" strides confidently on the fairy-tale/folklore stylistic grounds of Angela Carter and Tanith Lee. Told in monologue form, it deftly combines aspects of Little Red Riding Hood, Werewolf myth and the lore surrounding American settler-era serial killer clan The Bloody Benders. Deeply mythic, wonderfully charming, it's a powerful story that I liked so much I bought the rights to have it read on PSEUDOPOD - the episode is free to download or listen to here.

The book ends with a perfectly appropriate tale: "The Chill Clutch of the Unseen" by Kim Newman. Written for a Charles L. Grant tribute, the story ostensibly takes place in Grant's created town, Oxrun Station, as an aging monster hunter, who's seen all the classic monsters come down the pike only to go down in defeat, awaits the last of them. It's a wistful tribute to the Universal film monsters of old and Horror's Golden Age in general (think of the movie THE MONSTER SQUAD, but for old men). The last monster isn't one of the biggies, but quite fitting and well-characterized by Newman. It's bittersweet, but truly a perfect ending for the anthology.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as hit-or-miss as some horror anthologies I've read, probably for a good part because it's culling from some of the genre's greats for stories of a particular theme. Some of them worked for me better than others -- The Medusa, I think it was called, I couldn't even get through -- but for the most part, it held up pretty well, and there were definitely more good stories than bad. A few that stick in my mind as especially good are
Our Lady of the Sauropods (Robert Silverberg), The Hill (Tanith Lee), Someone Else's Problem (Michael Marshall Smith) and Rawhead Rex (Clive Barker).

[Bogdan · Rating 3 out of 5]

he Mammoth Book of Monsters Anthology este prima antologie tematica a lui Stephen Jones pe care o citesc. Acesta s-a specializat in asemenea culeri de texte mamut cu tenta horror, avand in portofoliu antologii cu teme variate, cum ar fi : The Mammoth Book of Terror (1990), The Mammoth Book of Vampires (1992),The Mammoth Book of Zombies (1993), The Mammoth Book of Frankenstein (1994), The Mammoth Book of Werewolves (1994), The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women (2001), The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume Eighteen (2007), etc

Volumul cuprinde si o introducere a antologatorului in care precizeaza ca in selectia textelor a evitat sa cuprinda povestiri in care se gaseau demoni, fantome sau monstri umani (de ex. psihopatii) pentru ca acestea deja au antologii ale lor, orientandu-se spre creaturi cat mai obscure si cat mai originale. Din punctul asta de vedere cred ca s-a achitat cu brio, prin asigurarea unei diversitati sanatoase textelor cuprinse in volum. Ca nu toate povestirile au fost pe placul meu, si la unele chiar am fost dezamagit, sa nu adaug si frustrat, asta e cu totul alta problema.

In debut avem povestirea Visitation de David Schow care porneste mai greu decat de obicei si abia pe final facem cunostinta cu ceva personaje mai speciale. O poarta catre o alta dimensiune, un tanar inghitit de monstrii de dincolo, tatal sau si un specialist al demontarii fenomenelor oculte stau in centru actiunii acestei povestiri. Text considerat exuberant de antologator in introducere, insa eu l-as numi mai degraba mediocru. Da, finalul surprinde, insa mi s-au parut prea multe pagini pentru un fir narativ cam subtirel.

Ramsey Campbell e un scriitor de care am auzit multe lucruri bune. Down there urmareste intamplarile unei angajate care descopera ca in cladirea in care-si desfasoara munca s-au aciuat niscaiva creaturi insetate de singe. Nu e rea povestirea, dar nici nu m-a dat pe spate.

Scot Edelman si The Man he had been before se numara printre textele preferate din antologie. Scrisa pe un limbaj fara mari inflorituri, usor de citit, la obiect si fara o incarcatura inutila, urmareste cateva zile din viata unei familii de trei oameni ce a ramas singura in apropierea unui oras bantuit de zombie. Actiunea se invarte in jurul dramei pe care o traieste baiatul confruntat mereu cu certurile dintre parintii, si afectat de imaginea unui tata foarte dur in atitudine si in gesturi, lipsa zilelor in care acesta era o figura paterna calma si binevoitoare marcandu-l neincetat.

Pe de o parte aceasta transformare suferita de viata conjugala a celor doi parinti (noroc ca omul mai trebuie sa si doarma ca s-ar fi certat continuu) este de inteles daca urmarim fundalul pe care se desfasoara neintelegerile, insa nu trebuie sa-i scuzam pentru ca-si neglijeaza copilul si il traumatizeaza chiar mai rau decat o face prezenta monstrilor in sine. Nu este clar care si cine e monstrul, pentru ca antologii cu zombie au mai fost, si probabil intamplarea tragica (sau nu neaparat) din final sugereaza exact cam cine ar trebui sa fie incadrat in aceasta categorie. O povestire care m-a uns la suflet.

Dennis Etchison si Calling all monsters este un text plin de suspans in care un barbat aflat intr-o stare de coma, considerat mort de catre doctori este martor la incercarea acestora de-ai indeplini contractul. Contract care stipula ca in caz de moarte clinica acesta urma sa-si doneze organele celor aflati in nevoie. Un text scurt si care te cam pune pe ganduri.

R.Chetwynd-hayes si The shadmock este al doilea text de la un autor care-mi este necunoscut si care mi-a placut foarte mult. Shadmock-ul este rezultatul unei incrucisari intre un mock si o maddy. Am cautat sa vad exact cum pot fi tradusi cei trei termeni, insa nu am reusit sa ma edific cu precizie. In debut se precizeaza ca maddies yawn (din ce se spune in text am putut trage concluzia ca aspira o parte din sufletul omului -desi yawn ar sugera ca deschide larg gura intr-un cascat-), mocks blow (adica sunt priceputi la lovituri), si progenitura lor, shadmock-ul doar fluiera, capitol la care de altfel este de neintrecut, pina si parintii stiindu-i de frica.

Sheridan un influent om de afaceri care a achizitionat un nou domeniu impreuna cu o casa hotaraste sa mearga sa o viziteze, fiind insotit de mai tanara sa sotie, Caroline. Ajunsi acolo au surpriza sa descopere ca familia care o ingrijea formata dintr-un mock, o maddy, un shaddy in etate si un shadmock, este pe putin spus bizara. La scurt timp dupa sosirea noilor proprietari, monstrii isi arata adevarat fata si intentiile nu prea crestine.

Un text cu o atmosfera potrivita, incarcata de suspans si in care monstrii sunt adevaratii pioni, canalizand asupra lor intreaga atentie a cititorului. Se pare ca povestirea a dispus si de o ecranizare in filmul The Monster Club (1980), fiind una dintre cele trei povestiri abordate in film. Am fost de-a dreptul entuziasmat ce mai!

Christopher Fowler in The Spider Kiss urmareste o serie de intamplari neobisnuite ce tulbura linistea unui orasel american. O serie de persoane au un comportament iesit din comun, dus pina la extrem chiar, doi detectivi fiind insarcinati cu rezolvarea acestui mister. O povestire cu usoare tente ecologice sugerandu-se ca actiunile omului au influentat negativ si au destabilizat ciclul de evolutiei al animalelor si insectelor cu repercusiuni grave pentru acelasi nemilos om.

O surpriza am avut la urmatorul text pentru ca aceasta se concentreaza asupra unei incursiuni in lumea vampirilor de origine japoneza, text intitulat Café endless: Spring Rain si apartinandu-i lui Nancy Holder. Este interesant pentru ca se prezinta unele dintre aspectele caracteristice societatii actuale japoneze cu radacini adanci si in trecutul Japoniei feudale, unele obiceiuri si activitati culturale pastrandu-se neintinate pina in zilele noastre.

Atmosfera mi s-a parut reusita, insa intamplarile si interactiunea personajelor au un caracter usor ambiguu care m-am iritat. Plus ca in debut mi-a fost greu sa discern intre cele doua (!!) personaje, Buchner-san fiind de fapt o ea, o reprezentanta a unei mari corporatii ce viziteaza Japonia si il primeste ca ghid pe Satoshie un reprezentant usor americanizat al filialei companiei locale.

De Thomas Ligotti iarasi auzisem, insa nu am avut placerea de a-i citi vreo lucrare. Medusa mi s-a parut un text greoi, din care am citit cateva pagini si am renuntat pentru ca nu mi-a transmis vreo ceva.

Gemma Files si al sau text In the poor girl taken by surprise mi–a adus aminte de variantele de povestiri fantastice si singeroase pe care le construieste Kelly Link. Fiind scris cam in aceleasi coordonate, marcate de o usoara tenta de ambiguitate, pe mine nu prea m-a prins prea tare aceasta noua versiune fantastica a mitul varcolacului.

Down market de Sydney J. Bounds vorbeste despre locuitorii unui orase ce se vad nevoiti sa ofere an de an sacrificii unui gargui pentru ca afacerile sa le mearga bine. Un text fara mari surprize si cam banal comparativ cu ce mai este in antologie.

Legendarul Robert E Howard a fost ales si el ales cu povestirea The horror from the mound. Un text reusit, cu o atmosfera terifianta, datator de fiori pe sira spinarii, in care un pionier din Texasul de Vest elibereaza o fiara private secole intregi de libertate. Insetata de singe aceasta il omoara pe vecinul mexican al pionierului, neoprindu-se aici. Constientizand gravitatea situatiei si efectul dezastruos al actiunilor sale, Steve Brill nu se pierde chiar asa usor cu firea si incerca si el la randu-i sa riposteze. Totusi fiara cu care va avea de luptat se dovedeste a fi mai supranaturala decat se astepta.

Fat Man de Jay Lake a avut potential in debut, insa din pacate scriitorul si-a pierdut din inspiratie, incet, incet, pe parcurs. Doi braconieri reusesc sa impuste un exemplar viguros din legendara rasa Bigfoot. Dupa cum era normal isi aduc prada in oras si in speranta ca vor deveni celebri si bogati, cei doi hotarasc ca in curind sa faca publica aceasta captura.

Ei, bine lucrurile se complica cind ziua urmatoare dispare baiatul unuia dintre ei si prietenul sau este gasit mort. Amaraciunea mea este cu atata mai mare daca e sa tin seama de talentul de povestitor al scriitorului, insa implicatiile usor parodice ale unui agent care aduce foarte mult cu Mulder din X-files, si aluziile nu prea voalate la acest serial, explicatia trasa de par pe care ne-o ofera pentru disparitii plus lungirea excesiva a textului il trag clar in jos.

Brian Lumley semneaza si el o povestire interesanta, The thin people. Intr-un cartier marginas al Londrei, Barrows Hill, se pare ca traieste ascunsa o specie de finte ciudate, specie mult mai inalta si mai slaba decat un om normal. Desi nu sunt fiinte eminamente agresive, totusi cine le deranjeaza sau chiar vorbeste despre ele se gaseste in pericol de moarte. Cum este si cazul unui alcoolic, Barmy Bill, care la un pahar de tarie impartaseste ceea ce a vazut el intr-o noapte pe strazile pustii din cartier.

Tanith Lee, The hill vorbeste despre o bibliotecara care se angajeaza la un doctor excentric pentru a-i aseza in ordine vrafurile de carti. Aici ea trece printr-o serie de intamplari extraordinare, care in final se dovedesc a avea o explicatie mai rationala decat la prima vedere. O povestire mult prea intinsa pentru ce ofera de fapt.

Marele monstru Godzilla face tratament pentru a-si infrana pornirile animalice in Godzilla`s Twelve step program de Joe R. Landsdale. Totusi nimeni nu-si poate nega adevarata natura si deci nu avem prea mult de asteptat pina cand aceste dorinte reprimate vor iesi nestavilite la suprafata. Un subiect original si bine proportionat ca intindere.

Karl Edward Wagner m-a cam plictisit cu .220 Swift. Doi indivizi cerceteaza imprejurimile unui deal in cautarea unor mine parasite si a vestigiilor unei lumi demult apuse. Totusi, pe linga bogatiile pe care le descopera si lacomia ce apare odata cu aceasta mana cereasca, li se mai pregateste o surpriza. Ideea nu e rea, dar iar suntem asaltati cu o serie de detalii si actiuni inutile.

Surprinzator, povestirea lui Robert Silverberg, Our lady of the Sauropods, nu a fost ce m-am asteptat. Probabil ca trebuie sa bifezi in antologie si niste nume mai grele ca altfel nu se cumpara volumul. O tinara de pe o baza spatiala sufera un accident de nava si ramane stramtorata si singura intr-un habitat artificial ce recreaza conditiile de viata din perioada Jurassicului. Surprinzator ea reuseste sa supravietuiasca, nu chiar bine merci, ci cu privatiunile evidente ale unei asemenea incercari, descoperind o comuniune si o armonie cu dinozaurii, pe care nu o credea niciodata posibila.

Basil Cooper nu m-a convins deloc in The flabby men, de departe cea mai lunga povestire din antologie. Am incercat sa o parcurg, dar multitudinea paginilor fara un continut whatsoever nu au fost de bun augur pentru scriitor. Thumb down.

Despre Robert Holdstock a mai vorbit si Jen pe blog. Textul The silvering nu mi s-a parut unul stralucit. Un pescar atrage in plasa lui sirenele si se indragosteste de una dintre ele. Atunci cind aceasta nu il mai viziteaza recurge la orice strategema pentru a o gasi.

Someone else`s problem a lui Michael Marshall Smith are toate sansele sa irite cititorii. De ce? Pentru ca urmareste un personaj care decide ca e mai bine sa nu intervina intr-o situatie si sa nu spuna nimic, neluarea unei atitudini contribuind la disparitie unei femei de afaceri. Un tanar care munceste pe brinci la o firma engleza ia un tren spre prietena lui din Cambridge. Pe drum observa si chiar este atacat la bufet de o mina de creaturi ciudate si feroce de care scapa doar cu fuga. Nu acelasi lucru se poate spune si despre vecina lui de compartiment care nu se mai intoarce din vagonul respectiv nici chiar cind trenul ajunge in statia finala.

Dintr-o asemenea antologie nu putea sa lipseasca si preferatul meu, Clive Barker, prezent cu povestirea Rawhead Rex cuprinsa si in Cartile Insangerate din colectia Nautilus veche a Nemirei. Imi aduceam aminte doar vag de ea si a trebuit sa verific cuprinsul volumului ca sa fiu sigur. Intr-o mica localitate londoneza un fermier pus pe treaba elibereaza, fara sa vrea evident, un monstru captiv din vremuri stravechi. Si avand in vedere ca obiceiurile gastronomice ale lui Rawhead Rex, ca de el este vorba, au la baza omul, copii fiind considerati o delicatesa, va dati seama ce-i asteapta pe locuitorii din zona. O lucrare singeroasa si necrutatoare in stilul inconfundabil a lui Clive Barker.

Volum este incheiat cu un text ceva mai cumintel, strabatut de o usoara stare de nostalgie. Kim Newman in The chill Clutch of the unseen se apleaca asupra memoriilor unui serif ajuns la varsta senectutii si care are de ingrijit orasul unde monstrii vin sa moara. Inainte de a-si anunta retragerea mai are parte de o ultima surpriza din partea unui asemenea monstru. Daca va supravietui sau nu incercarii ramane de vazut. Si de citit.

Ma asteptam, ca la orice alta antologie, sa existe texte care sa nu ma prinda si chiar asa a si fost. Insa cele care mi-au placut mult inclina decisiv balanta pentru o impresie finala pozitiva. Este vorba si de gusturi, si poate ce mi-a placut mie nu va fi gasit interesant de catre un alt cititor si tot asa.

O asemenea antologie tematica va avea succes intotdeauna, spun eu, pentru ca cititorul stie exact la ce sa se astepte cand da banutii pe ea si la sfarsit, cand tragem linie, nu ai avea motive sa fii dezamagit.

http://www.cititorsf.ro/2009/10/27/th...

[Galo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cutting to the chase, the stand-out stories are: Ramsey Campbell's Down There, R. Chetwynd-Hayes' The Shadmock, Nancy Holder's Cafe Endless: Spring Rain, Sydney J. Bounds' Downmarket, Robert E. Howard's The Horror from the Mound, Jay Lake's Fat Man, Brian Lumley's The Thin People, Basil Copper's The Flabby Men, Robert Holdstock's The Silvering, Michael Marshall Smith's Someone Else's Problem, Clive Barker's Rawhead Rex, and Kim Newman's The Chill Clutch of the Unseen.

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good monster story, and this novel is full of them. Usually in an anthology there's always, either, a few stories that aren't as good as the others or completely stink; or, there's only a few medicore to excellent stories and the rest are trash. But this collection is one of the few exceptions to the rule. All the stories in this novel are great or better.

[Jessie Banach · Rating 2 out of 5]

I skipped most of the stories in this book after a page or two of each. Nothing stood out, and very little was well written. Blah all the way around.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A late addition to the Stephen Jones anthologies that were popular some twenty years ago, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF MONSTERS gathers together a number of monstrous short stories from mostly modern authors. It's a mixed bag for sure, but one with a high number of gems contained within.

David J. Schow's VISITATION is a full-blooded opener, snappy and brief and with Grand Guignol-style goings-on. It couldn't get more over the top if it tried, but it's a barnstorming entrance to the anthology. This is followed up by Ramsey Campbell's superlative ghost effort DOWN THERE, in which the bowels of an office block harbour some very unpleasant creatures indeed. The atmosphere is second to none and this rivals M.R. James in the fear stakes. Scott Edelman's THE MAN HE HAD BEEN BEFORE, a pseudo-sequel to Matheson's I AM LEGEND, starts out well as a post-apocalyptic action story but descends into familial tedium.

Dennis Etchison's CALLING ALL MONSTERS is a first-person account of pain that I didn't get on with too well; it's attempts to bring a new twist on genre tropes never really works. R. Chetwynd-Hayes contributes THE SHADMOCK, which is best known for being filmed as part of THE MONSTER CLUB back in 1980. I prefer the film version, but this story is different enough to be worth a look, and there's a lot of originality here. THE SPIDER KISS sees Christopher Fowler tackling hard-boiled crime, but his brief story doesn't have the character of his London-set tales. CAFE ENDLESS: SPRING RAIN, by Nancy Holder, is one of those arty efforts that I don't get on with.

For me, Thomas Ligotti is one of the most interesting horror writers working today, and his THE MEDUSA is worth a look. It's a psychological exercise set in dusty old bookshops and the like; I don't normally like stories this abstract, but this is a thing of beauty in Ligotti's capable hands. IN THE POOR GIRL TAKEN BY SURPRISE sees Gemma Files updating the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale to mixed effect, while Sydney J. Bounds' DOWNMARKET is a slick set-piece effort in which a down-on-his-luck young man is assailed by something ancient and terrible.

Robert E. Howard has long been one of my very favouite authors, and THE HORROR FROM THE MOUND sees him unearthing an ancient Indian burial mound to excellent effect, superbly mixing atmosphere with action, his descriptions second to none. Jay Lake's FAT MAN comes up with a novel explanation for American's Bigfoot legend, while Brian Lumley's THE THIN PEOPLE is a lesser effort from the popular NECROSCOPE novelist. Next up, Tanith Lee's THE HILL is a stand-out here, a delightfully old-fashioned effort about a woman who takes up a position as a librarian for an eccentric employer. What follows is novel, surprising, hugely atmospheric, and contains one particular passage - an incident on a staircase - that actually chilled me, something that happens very rarely when I read.

Joe Lansdale's GODZILLA'S TWELVE STEP PROGRAM is a snappy, jokey effort for those of us who are kaiju fans. Karl Edgar Wagner's .220 SWIFT is an addition to the subterranean horror cycle and an excellent read that reminded me of THE DESCENT et al. There's a bit of everything here. OUR LADY OF THE SAUROPODS sees Robert Silverberg telling of a lady trapped on a planet with dinosaurs, but I didn't buy the twist for a moment. Basil Copper's THE FLABBY MEN is an excellent scientific horror/thriller with Lovecraftian overtones, a wonderfully creepy yarn in which a remote island is assailed by hostile beasties. It reminded me of the old British sci-fi effort ISLAND OF TERROR quite a bit.

Robert Holdstock's THE SILVERING offers a fresh spin on the Selkie legend, but I found the writing a bit obtuse and muddled, too much about feelings with not enough concrete plotting. SOMEONE ELSE'S PROBLEM is a brief, blackly comic yarn by Michael Marshall Smith about a guy encountering some weird creatures on a typical commuter journey, and Kim Newman's closing story, THE CHILL CLUTCH OF THE UNSEEN, explores what happens when an old-time monster hunter meets the last of the old-time monsters. Penultimate to Newman's coda is Clive Barker's excellent and lengthy short, RAWHEAD REX, best known for being filmed back in the 1980s. It's a ferocious and compelling monster-on-the-loose effort in which an ancient being is unearthed in Kent and goes on an extraordinarily violent rampage. Splendid stuff, and quite unputdownable.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

As is the case with most anthologies, this was a mixed bag so 3 stars is an average for the collection as a whole. There were stories that were brilliant, others that were pretty good, a handful that were mediocre, and the almost obligatory one or two that were just solid nopes. The monsters of the title were a pleasantly varied mix with classics like vampires and zombies, some fun new inventions like the Shadmock, and even one or two "monsters" of non-supernatural origin.

Individual story ratings:

Visitation by David J Schow - 2.5 stars, kind of weird and confusing.

Down There by Ramsey Campbell - 3.5 stars, creepy af, spent most of it willing the main character to run the hell away.

The Man He Was Before by Scott Edelman - 4 stars, excellent look at domestic abuse and also zombies.

Calling All Monsters by Dennis Etchison - 2 stars, whut?

The Shadmock by R Chetwynd-Hayes - 3.5 stars, very inventive ideas and very enjoyable though the reveal of what the whistle did was pretty anticlimactic.

The Spider Kiss by Christopher Fowler - 1 star, NOPE. Had to skip a page. There were spiders. Nope. Not here for that.

Cafe Endless: Spring Rain by Nancy Holder - 2.5 stars, partly great, partly hugely disappointing.

The Medusa by Thomas Ligotti - 2 stars, boring and kind of pretentious.

In The Poor Girl Taken By Surprise by Gemma Files - 3.5 stars, this felt like it's meant to be read aloud to really get the impact, a monologue designed to be heard.

Downmarket by Sydney J Bounds - 3.5 stars, atmospheric and punchy.

The Horror From The Mound by Robert E Howard - 2.5 stars, eh, was alright.

Fat Man by Jay Lake - 3 stars, weird but interesting take on Big Foot with one part that really confused me.

The Thin People by Brian Lumley - 4 stars, deliciously creepy little story.

The Hill by Tanith Lee - 4.5 stars, my favourite, loved it, loved everything about it from the main character to the atmosphere and the reveal was kind of perfect.

Godzilla's Twelve Step Program by Joe R Lansdale - 3 stars, a fun concept.

.220 Swift by Karl Edward Wagner - 3 stars, the beginning super dragged but second half was great once they actually went off to the caves.

Our Lady Of The Sauropods by Robert Silverberg - 4 stars, there were dinosaurs, twas great.

The Flabby Men by Basil Copper - 1 star, NOPE NOPE NOPE I DO NOT LIKE YOU. Once I read the first paragraph about the female character I had a bad taste in my mouth and just couldn't enjoy it. Nope.

The Silvering by Robert Holdstock - 3 stars, a different and sinister selkie story.

Someone Else's Problem by Michael Marshall Smith - 4.25 stars, kind of loved this one, creepy train monsters, excellent.

Rawhead Rex by Clive Barker - 3.5 stars, one of the more graphic but then it is Clive Barker, some of it was just gross, what's with the peeing?

The Chill Clutch Of The Unseen by Kim Newman - 3 stars, took me a moment to get into but a really great premise and a fun origin story more than anything. I want to hear what happened next.

[Sparrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know I've had this anthology since the start of college and I finally got around to reading it under a forced yearly assignment to try and read more books that I own. As I suspected, my excitement in reading horror anthologies has drained away and I found most of this book to be mediocre, if even enjoyable at all. Ratings below.

Visitation - 3 stars
Down There - 2 stars
The Man He Had Been Before - 3 stars
Calling All Monsters - 3 stars
The Shadmock - 3 stars
The Spider Kiss - 1 star (spiders aren't insects damnit)
Cafe Endless: Spring Rain - 2 stars
The Medusa - 1 star (pretentious as fuck)
In the Poor Girl Taken by Surprise - 2 stars
Downmarket - 3 stars
The Horror from the Mound - 4 stars (creepy one)
Fat Man - 2.5 stars
The Thin People - 4 stars (very creepy concept)
The Hill - 2 stars
Godzilla's Twelve Step Program - 2 stars
.220 Swift - 2 stars (the ending ruined it for me, but had a good beginning)
Our Lady of the Sauropods - 3 stars
The Flabby Men - 2.5 stars
The Silvering - 2.5 stars
Someone Else's Problem - 1 star
Rawhead Rex - 5 stars (I am reminded of how fucked up the master Clive Barker is damn)
The Chill Clutch of the Unseen - 3 stars

[Steven Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love anthologies! They are usually in the short story or novella format (22 stories in 608 pages), offer a variety of ideas and imaginations, and often bring fascinating stories to my attention that I might otherwise have missed. This one is intentionally something of an omnibus to pick up the general theme of what a monster is without repeating works from other “themed” versions, so there is something for everyone, and often not quite in the way you expected it.
Most of them are unique perspectives, often focusing more on the mental aspects of horror than the gruesome ones. Unlike a novel, the anthology allows the reader to skip around to stories of interest, skip reading some entirely if desired, and let it lie around for some time while doing other things without losing any of the interest the other ones without losing any plot continuity,
A few are from well-known writers showcasing a peculiar view not seen in their larger works. None of the “monsters” in this collection are ones commonly described in other literature, so it should be an interesting read for anyone.

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slim pickings. Out of 22 stories, I only enjoyed 5; the other 17 gave me some excuse to stop reading them. Here are the five that I enjoyed :

3 - "Our Lady of the Sauropods" by Robert Silverberg - a science fiction story with an intriguing premise, ruined by a silly ending (and the inspiration for Jurassic Park?).

3.5 - "The Thin People" by Brian Lumley - a readable story that seems better than it is because the other stories in the book are terrible.

5 - "The Hill" by Tanith Lee - an excellent story, the best story in the book. Like an Edwardian fever dream.

5 - "Someone Else's Problem" by Michael Marshall Smith - a witty little story with a fantastic ending.

5 - "Rawhead Rex" by Clive Barker - a truly insane story, a novel in 40 pages, from the Books of Blood. Absolutely tasteless, but genuinely horrifying, and, as I already said, totally insane.

Read these stories and skip the rest.

[Edward Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some shined, some were dim, and some it seemed as if the light had gone out at the worst time. Anthologies are always hit or miss, but many of these seem to be of the latter. I did like a few that stood out among the herd such as the perennial favorite of RL Howard in "The Burial Mound", the claustrophobic and very "Lost World" type of H.G. Wells in .220 Swift (which also is part of the Lovecraftian Universe as well as Manly Wade Wellman) as well as "The Spider's Kiss" by Christopher Fowler.

It's a good collection, but I expected more than just a bunch of reprints that I have seen or read in other editions. Yes, I know anthologies are mostly made up of such, just hoped for a little bit more.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most other 'Mammoth' anthologies, this one was also a collection of well-written pretentious 'Meh' works, punctuated by enjoyable and chuckle-worthy stuff. To the latter category would fall the following stories:
1. David J. Schow's 'Visitation';
2. R. Chetwynd-Hayes' 'The Shadmock';
3. Thomas Ligotti's 'The Medusa';
4. Joe R. Lansdale's 'Godzilla's Twelve Step Program';
5. Karl Edward Wagner's '.220 Swift';
6. Robert Silverberg's 'Our Lady of the Sauropods';
7. Kim Newman's 'The Chill Clutch of the Unseen'.
If you have nothing else to read but are stuck in lockdown or some such situation, this book may come handy. That's all.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another marvellous anthology of writing broadly in the field of horror put together with his ever present subtle sense of quality by Stephen Jones. I think it full of great stories, well written, full unexpected things and overall marvellous fun. If you like what Jones does then you will find much here to enjoy. If you don't then nothing I say will change your mind.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read! I especially liked The Flabby Men (Lovecraft pastiche) and The Silvering (selkies). Only one or two weak stories.

[Frederic Van Laere · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ongelijke kwaliteit tussen de verschillende kortverhalen.

[Sam Desir-Spinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a couple great stories here, but they were sadly far outnumbered by lengthy, boring ones.

[Ben Mizrahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good selection, except from Rawhead Rex which I think is a bit overrated as novelette.

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jRTo...

Enjoy!

[Amanda Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid grade for a solid book. Plenty of variety of monster stories. Some are excellent and spine tingling, some are just ok. But there arent any that disappoint.

[Rahul · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems the focus here was to keep the definition of a monster as flexible as possible, going beyond the usual vampires, werewolves and ghouls to even weirder creations of the human imagination.Worry not, fans of the good old monsters; Vampires and werewolves and even Godzilla himself are here, just not in the form you would expect.

The quality of stories here is usually first-rate, and you can be sure some of the newer monsters are going to stick with you for a long time.We start with Visitation by David J Schow.Incidentally, the author wrote the sceenplay for cult film The Crow.Visitation is a fantastically vivid story based on the idea that as long as we truly don’t believe in ghosts, monsters or demons, we are safe, but if we are tricked by our imagination into planting the smallest seed of doubt in our minds, our fears might manifest themselves in the worst way possible.The monster outside is the same as the monster within.

From the charmingly rustic setting of Visitation we come to the familiar claustrophobia of tight cubicles in cramped office-spaces of big-city high rises.Down There by Ramsey Campbell exploits that fear that niggles amid the sickly white lighting of deserted corridors and elevators.A high point is the charmingly funny but realistic descriptions of the mundane reflections of the female protagonist as she bides her time together with the one other colleague still in the office at that late hour.Surely it is no small task to paint a convincing character sketch in the space of 8 pages.

Possibly my favourite story here is The Shadmock by R Chetwynd-Hayes.If you have chanced to watch the 1981 film The Monster Club, featuring Vincent Price, you might recall the episode loosely based on this story.It is really a remarkable piece, an alchemy of fear, baleful and disturbing, provocative imagery, black humour, melancholy and mournfulness, as wildly imaginative as could be.And what a novel idea!

The Spider Kiss is marred by plainly bad writing.The idea is somewhat original but the exposition of it here is so inane it completely ruins it for me.Cafe Endless – Spring Rain is one weird story, set in Tokyo, Japan, in which nothing really interesting happens.Did not work for me.The Medusa by Thomas Ligotti has an academic researching the Medusa myth.It creates a delicious atmosphere and is extremely well-written, though the conclusion could have been better.It is that kind of horror which concentrates more on the fear itself and the sense of foreboding rather than on a concrete embodiment/realization of the fear.

The Thin People by Brian Lumley is another highlight, an ingenious yarn about a kind of people that-, well, let’s just say that if you read this you’ll never look at a street lamp-post the same way again.Horror at it’s best.Joe R Lansdale’s Godzilla’s Twelve Step Program is a hilarious story which proves that you can inject poignancy into something so obviously absurd.The Hill and .220 Swift are novellas – The former makes an interesting point about supernatural beliefs while telling a story about the dead come back to life, or so it appears.

One of my favourite SF authors Robert Silverberg contributes with Our Lady of the Sauropods, that asks the tantalizing question-Can we really be so sure about our knowledge of dinosaurs, seeing as it is based on fossils alone?Could it be that dinosaurs were…different from what we imagine?

Someone Else’s Problem by Michael Marshall Smith is one of the more offbeat and creative stories here.Brilliantly funny and absurdist in tone, it hits you like a nail on the head.I’m willing to bet it came to the author’s mind as he sat in a sparsely populated train carriage, trying to read a book but eyes inevitable rising above the pages, ears attuned to the rhythmic hum of the locomotive.At some point in time haven’t we all felt like we are unjustly stuck in someone else’s problem, when we should just walk away…

Other writers of note featured here include Basil Copper, Clive Barker and Robert E.Howard.Overall a fine-to-middling collection to spook and stimulate, brought down a notch by a few unremarkable stories which just don’t match up to the standard of the rest.But these are just a few bad apples,and then, I could be wrong.

[Tanner Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring stories ever!

So boring! I tried to read .... So boring!
Editor pick boring authors for ideas of monsters. It is not what a Imagines!

[Katie Cat Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are tired of reading horror stories that leave you bored and unsatisfied, then read this book! Full of thrilling, scary, nightmare-inducing monsters, read this one in the dark!

Pacing: This Mammoth collection has more longer tales than other Mammoth collections. While there are a few shirt ones, be prepared to either read a long story or put down the book multiple times in the middle of a tale.

Characters: Monsters! These are for the most part, the monsters of nightmares. Invented, fangs, hooves, tusks, sharp teeth, but with no name you have heard before. The originality of these tales makes the book worthwhile.

Language: Dark but not deep. Anyone could read these tales and not need a dictionary. There are even a variety of accents and dialects from UK to southern US.

Frame: Dark and chilling. Full of shadows and not knowing what lurks around the corner, these stories are meant to be read in the dark.

One of the more enjoyable Mammoth books I have read. I enjoyed the time span of the book-stories from the 1930's, 1970's, and 2000's. I wish some of the stories had been shorter, but still a worthwhile read for horror fans.

[Snigdha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of stories about monsters includes appearances of some all time favourites such as vampires and werewolves, the Medusa and Godzilla and a bundle of strange creatures such as Shadmocks, Flabby Men and Flat Men.
The two classiest stories in the collection were The Hill by Tanith Lee and The Shadmock by R. Chetwynd-Hayes. And I say classy because these stories were written with a flair, as opposed to the numerous tales written to give cheap thrills. Some tales in this collection about 'monsters' were disgusting- and not in the sort of mind-blowing way you'd expect a book to me- they were plain gruesome for the provision of gory details meant to raise bile. Maybe I am just not a sort of 'Monster Story' person or maybe I should try a better collection, but the aftertaste that lingered in my mind when I plundered through Rawhead made me give this collection a two star rating, much as I had earlier decided on a three. Don't get me wrong, some stories are amusing and entertaining until the others just aren't.

[D.M. Dutcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Large collection of somewhat atypical or random monster stories. All of them are decently written, with no real stinkers or padding in the anthology, but it's a wide enough range where you will only like some of the tales. I liked Robert Holdstock's Silverling best of all, because he is a very unappreciated, mythic author. This tale was about a man who fell in love with a Selkie, a seal-like mermaid. Very mythic, while still managing to be both creative and chilling.

The worst story in the lot is Clive Barker's Rawhead Rex. It was both pointless and scatlogical in that way Barker has, where all he can do is shock and sicken to disguise a very pedestrian story. His fans will eat it up, but I disliked it.

Still, a decent if quirky anthology, albeit one that focuses on a lot of lesser or unknown works due to its theme.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading it piecemeal but so far I'm impressed. A couple of my all time favourite stories have come from this anthology. Ramsey Campbell's 'Down There', and Brian Lumley's, 'The Thin People' are real stand-out stories so far.

Edit: Have read all that I can remember, may have missed one or two since it's a while since I picked it up again, but I can honestly say it was a very enjoyable read with some absolutely wonderful stories. Another one to add to the stand-out stories list above is the final story about the invisible man by Kim Newman, 'The Chill Clutch of the Unseen'. Very good anthology.

[Luke Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any short story comp, there are some tales here that are better than others, but for the first time since reading Night Shift by Stephen King, I've found a compilation book without a single flat out stinker. Rather than just reading one story then leaving the book for another rainy day, I found myself taking in four or five before putting it down. Whilst there are some on here I've read before (like the excellent Rawhead Rex by Clive Barker), the best is The Man He Had Been Before by Scott Edelman, a haunting post-apocalyptic tale of a family surviving the aftermath of a zombie outbreak. Seek it out.

[Jim Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty good anthology with strong stories throughout with "The Medusa" by Thomas Ligotti, "Fat Man" by the late Jay Lake, and "Godzilla's Twelve Step Program by Joe R. Lansdale being standouts. I did find R. Chetwynd-Hayes' classic story "The Shadmock" far too silly to finish. Perhaps it's just personal taste.

I would recommend this anthology to anyone interested in the monster horror sub-genre. The writing overall is very strong, the ideas potent, and the atmospheres dark and compelling.

[Ahimsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with many anthologies, the stories here vary to taste. I found many more misses than hits, personally, but that is a personal assessment of course.

Most disappointing to me is that the monsters really aren't very new or interesting at all. There are zombies and vampires and demons and at least one story where "humans are the real monsters!" In terms of creativity, this book gets low marks.

But there are enough well-written stories to make this worth reading, if only once.

[Joshua Hair · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was...decent. However, overall, this is the first Stephen Jones collection I have been disappointed in. It just seemed as if a majority of the stories were merely lackluster. One could argue that most did not in fact even involve a monster per say. I had intended to review each story individually, but the book was so uninspiring that I've already donated it others to read. This is sad, because I am a monster maniac and generally eat up anything involving this subject matter.